News and context with references. Check the publication date and source dates.
The World Health Organization, or WHO, has called for urgent action to promote, provide, and protect health in the Eastern Mediterranean region. According to UN News on October 14, 2026, the region, which comprises 22 countries and territories, is facing some of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, including those in Sudan, Yemen, and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Humanitarian needs are immense
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the appeal to health leaders and senior officials at a meeting of the WHO Regional Committee in Cairo, Egypt, on Wednesday. He said Member States had continued working to improve people’s health and well-being over the past year despite operating under extremely difficult conditions.
The region’s annual report recorded several advances, including stronger efforts to address noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. These diseases account for about two-thirds of all deaths in the region, claiming more than 2.8 million lives each year.
However, this progress has taken place amid widespread humanitarian pressures. Tedros said more than 117 million people in the Eastern Mediterranean require humanitarian assistance. The region is also home to some of the world’s largest displacement crises, while conflict continues to affect millions of people across several countries and territories.
Health systems face overlapping pressures
WHO highlighted the large number of attacks on healthcare services, as well as climate-related shocks that are adding to the burden on already fragile health systems. These conditions are unfolding as international funding for healthcare services and humanitarian operations declines sharply. At the national level, governments are also facing growing fiscal constraints.
Tedros described the situation as a gap between needs and the capacity to respond: needs are rising while resources are shrinking. For the Occupied Palestinian Territory, its inclusion alongside other centers of crisis underscores that the Palestinian health situation is part of the regional humanitarian challenge being highlighted by WHO.
WHO is not treating emergency response as its only priority. The organization is also urging governments to maintain routine healthcare services so that people can continue to receive the prevention, screening, and treatment they need.
Essential services need to be strengthened
Tedros urged leaders to continue taking steps to promote health, including reducing tobacco use and other risk factors for noncommunicable diseases. He also emphasized the importance of ensuring that all children are vaccinated.
Governments were urged to continue investing in strong, equitable, and resilient health systems, as well as in the health workforce. WHO wants every primary healthcare facility to be able to provide quality care for women during pregnancy, give newborns and children a healthy start in life, and detect and treat hypertension, diabetes, and cancer at an early stage.
Strengthening primary healthcare is important because conflict and emergencies do not eliminate routine health needs. Instead, weak essential services can increase risks for mothers, children, and people living with noncommunicable diseases.
Preparedness before crises occur
WHO also called for health to be protected by strengthening preparedness, security, and resilience. Tedros warned that threats in the Eastern Mediterranean continue to evolve: conflicts and outbreaks persist, while climate risks continue to rise.
He said preparedness must not be considered only after an emergency occurs. Continued investment is needed in surveillance systems, laboratories, emergency personnel, resilient healthcare facilities, and supply chains. These measures are necessary to ensure that health responses can operate before and during crises, including in areas facing conflict and major humanitarian needs.
